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INDIANAPOLIS – Butler and Wabash will renew their rivalry under the lights at the Sellick Bowl on Saturday night. The 6 PM kickoff will stream on FloFootball.com with Greg Rakestraw and Jared Thomas on the call. Fans are encouraged to wear blue to the "Blue Out" game. The first 150 students in attendance will receive a blue shirt.
 
GameDay
Date: Saturday, September 16
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Indianapolis, Ind. / Sellick Bowl
Live Stats: ButlerSports.com (Statbroadcast)
Watch: FloFootball.com
 
Bulldog Bits
- Jyran Mitchell earned PFL Offensive Player of the Week honors after Week 2 (Sept. 10).
- Butler averages a PFL-best 6.1 yards per play. They scored points on three of their first four possessions in each half to win big over Taylor.
- Bret Bushka leads the PFL in passing yards (448) and completion percentage (64.9) after Week 2.
- Luke Wooten caught his first TD pass of the year vs. Taylor. He led the team with six receiving touchdowns in 2022.
- Ethan Loss ranks fourth in the PFL in receiving yards per game (62.0).
- Luka Zurak leads all PFL kickers in scoring (19). Zurak is 7-for-7 on PATs and 4-for-5 on FG.
- Tyson Garrett led Butler with a career-high 12 tackles vs. Taylor.
- Charlie Bless made a career-high nine tackles in the win over Taylor.
- Danny Orgler came up with the first sack of his BU career on Saturday, while adding a tackle for loss and two pass breakups.
- Nick Bafia has a team-high 18 tackles over his first two games and needs just eight more to move his career total up to 100.
- Harry Ochs recovered a muffed punt in the end zone for a Bulldog touchdown last week.
 
PFL Standings
Stetson 2-0
Butler 1-1
Dayton 1-1
Morehead State 1-1
Presbyterian 1-1
St. Thomas 1-1
Marist 0-1
Davidson 0-2
Drake 0-2
San Diego 0-2
Valparaiso 0-2
 
2023 PFL Schedule - Week 3
Taylor at Dayton 1:00 p.m.
St. Thomas at Harvard 1:00 p.m.
Davidson at Marist * 1:00 p.m.
Stetson at Montana State 3:00 p.m.
Drake at South Dakota State 3:30 p.m.
Princeton at San Diego 4:00 p.m.
Wabash at Butler 6:00 p.m.
Presbyterian at Wofford 6:00 p.m.
 
SCOUTING WABASH: The Little Giants trailed Hampden-Sydney College 28-21 in the season opener with just 3:11 left in the fourth quarter, but they would use a fumble recovery, a 16-yard TD pass and a two-point conversion to record a 29-28 victory in the Gentlemen's Classic on Sept. 2. QB Liam Thompson threw two touchdowns in the comeback win. The first went to Cooper Sullivan in the second quarter and Derek Allen Jr. caught the second with two minutes remaining on the game clock. Donovan Snyder was a workhorse for Wabash taking 22 handoffs resulting in 99 rushing yards. Jake Pasch and Gavin Ruppert led the defense with 11 tackles each.
 
Sophomore DB Jake Pasch was named NCAC Defensive Player of the Week for Wabash on Sept. 5. Pasch recorded a team-high 11 tackles and forced the fumble that setup the game-winning score.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Bulldogs are on top of the all-time series against Wabash 42-17-8. The 68th meeting between the two programs will renew a rivalry that began in 1890! Butler won the first-ever meeting 22-6. The last meeting was a 35-12 Butler victory during the 1976 season. The first Wabash win over Butler came in 1895 (10-6).
 
Butler has won the last six meetings over Wabash and are 8-1-1 over the last 10 matchups.
 
MITCHELL NAMED PFL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jyran Mitchell became the first PFL student-athlete to score three touchdowns in a game, leading Butler to a 41-13 victory against Taylor on Saturday. Mitchell carried the ball 12 times for 178 yards and three scores, setting this season's PFL single-game high in yards and touchdowns through Week 2.  He had two touchdown runs of 60-plus yards on the day. Mitchell scored the game's first two touchdowns, the second going for 60 yards, to put Butler in front 14-0. Then, midway through the third quarter, Mitchell broke through for a 63-yard touchdown run, extending the Bulldogs lead to 31-7.
 
Mitchell has scored four touchdowns for Butler over his first two games as a Bulldog. He is averaging 8.4 yards per rush this year to lead the PFL.
 
BIG TIME BULLDOG PERFORMANCE: Jyran Mitchell is the first Bulldog to rush for 150+ yards since 2019! Nick Orlando rushed the ball 16 times for 158 yards on Nov. 23 to cap off the 2019 season at Dayton. Orlando scored all five BU touchdowns that day.
 
Butler's only 100-yard rusher from 2022 was Bret Bushka. He gained 102 yards at Davidson on just six carries (Oct. 1, 2022).
 
BUSHKA IN BULLDOG HISTORY: QB Bret Bushka needs 32 rushing yards to reach 1,000 in his career. In his last game, Bushka passed for 185 yards and a touchdown to move into seventh place all-time at Butler in career passing yards (4,583). He now needs 248 yards to move up to sixth (4,830 - Steve Clayton... 1970-73).
 
Bushka is one of 35 FCS players to make the Preseason Watch List for the Walter Payton Award. He needs six more completions to reach 400 in his BU career.
 
LUKA IS LEGIT: K/P Luka Zurak made two field goals for Butler (23, 20) again this weekend to start the season 4-for-5. Zurak also chipped in with five punts (41.8 avg.) and seven kickoffs.
 
Zurak is on the Preseason Watch List for the 2023 FCS Punter of the Year Award. Zurak has the best career punting average in Butler Football history (40.8).
 
DOWNHILL DEFENSE: The Bulldogs recorded seven tackles for loss vs. Taylor and added a sack to limit the Trojans to just 13 points.
 
Taylor was just 4-for-15 against Butler on third down and 2-for-5 on fourth down.
 
THE LAST TIME: Bret Bushka topped 300 passing yards two times last year. The last time he threw for 300+ yards was Oct. 8, 2022 vs. Dayton.
 
Luke Wooten is the last Bulldog to top 100 receiving yards in a single-game. He had 147 yards in a win at San Diego. Wooten is also the last BU receiver to have multiple touchdowns in the same game (Nov. 19).
 
COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE: The Bulldogs scored points on 36 of their 37 trips to the red zone last season (97.3%). Their only failed attempt came Week 4 at Davidson.
 
Butler led the PFL and FCS in red zone offense last year. They are 4-for-4 in the red zone this year with three field goals and a TD.
 
UP NEXT: The 2023 PFL opener will send the Bulldogs to DeLand, Fla. to face the Stetson Hatters. The 12 PM kick on Saturday will be played at Spec Martin Memorial Stadium.
 
Butler and Stetson have not played since the 2019 season. That year, the Bulldogs took a 30-27 loss on the road with Stetson hitting a last second 27-yard field goal.